Period life tables indicate the life expectancy and mortality and survival experience of people in a specific time period. The downloadable tables on this page provide more detail than the Period Life Tables information release tables.

New Zealand complete period life tables are typically derived every five years for a three-year period centred on a census year for the total New Zealand, Māori, non-Māori, and Pacific male and female populations.

Subnational period life tables are typically derived every five years for a three-year period centred on a census year for the New Zealand regional council, territorial authority and Auckland local board, Māori by regional council, non-Māori by regional council, and NZDep13 areas, male and female populations.

New Zealand abridged period life tables provide an annual indication of trends in life expectancy and the mortality and survival experience at selected ages, until the complete period life tables are available. They are for the total New Zealand male and female populations by age group.

2012–14 period life tables by ethnic group and deprivation index quintiles

We have disaggregated (broken down) the 2012–14 period life tables for regional council and district health board geographic areas by ethnic group. We also disaggregated the life tables for district health boards by quintiles of the NZDep2013 index of deprivation.

This is the first time we've published life tables at these disaggregated levels.

We estimate the life tables using statistical models, which use the available data highly efficiently. However, when the number of counts in each category is small, estimates of the underlying death rates are necessarily imprecise. The amount of uncertainty is indicated by the width of the credible intervals, wider intervals implying greater uncertainty.

When looking at data for small areas, note that mortality rates can be affected by incidental factors, unrelated to the underlying health of the population. For instance, areas with nursing homes tend to have higher mortality.

Note: the 'European or Other' group: includes people who belong to the 'European ' or 'Other' ethnicity groups. People who belong to both groups are only counted once. Almost all people in the 'Other' ethnicity group belong to the New Zealander sub-group.

We welcome feedback from users on the 2012–14 period life tables. Contact the Population Statistics unit at info@stats.govt.nz.

Complete New Zealand period life tables – Excel outputs

Complete New Zealand Period Life Tables: 2012–14 (Excel, 13 sheets, 439kB) Topics: Life table functions including life expectancy by single year of age; male and female; total, Māori, Non-Māori, Pacific, European or Other, and Asian ethnic groups.